49 CFR Part 395: Hours of Service Rules Explained

Part 395 caps how long a driver may drive and remain on duty, and requires that the driver’s duty status be recorded — for most drivers, on a registered electronic logging device. For property-carrying operations the core numbers are 11 hours of driving inside a 14-consecutive-hour window that opens after 10 consecutive hours off duty, a 30-minute break after 8 cumulative hours of driving, and a 60-hour/7-day or 70-hour/8-day cycle.

Everything else in the part is either an exception to those numbers or a rule about proving you met them.

What are the driving and duty limits?

Limit	Property-carrying (395.3)	Passenger-carrying (395.5)
Required off-duty before driving	10 consecutive hours	8 consecutive hours
Maximum driving	11 hours	10 hours
Duty window / on-duty limit	May not drive after 14 consecutive hours from coming on duty	May not drive after 15 hours on duty
Break	30-minute interruption after 8 cumulative hours driving	No equivalent requirement
Weekly cycle	60 hrs / 7 days, or 70 hrs / 8 days	60 hrs / 7 days, or 70 hrs / 8 days
Restart	34 or more consecutive hours off duty (395.3(c))	Not available

Three distinctions matter more than the numbers themselves.

The 14-hour window is consecutive; the 11 hours are cumulative. Section 395.3(a)(2) says a driver “may not drive after a period of 14 consecutive hours after coming on-duty following 10 consecutive hours off-duty.” Nothing you do inside that window stops it — not lunch, not a two-hour dock wait, not the 30-minute break. Section 395.3(a)(3)(i) then permits “a total of 11 hours” of driving inside it.

The 60/70 choice belongs to the carrier, not the driver. The 70-hour/8-day cycle is available to a carrier that operates commercial motor vehicles every day of the week; the 60-hour/7-day cycle applies otherwise.

The 34-hour restart is optional. Section 395.3(c) lets a driver end one 7- or 8-day period and start a new one after 34 or more consecutive hours off duty. A driver who never takes one simply operates on a rolling 7- or 8-day recalculation. Passenger-carrying drivers under 395.5 do not get a restart at all.

When do I have to take the 30-minute break?

Section 395.3(a)(3)(ii) requires at least a consecutive 30-minute interruption in driving status after 8 cumulative hours of driving time without such an interruption. Two details are commonly misread:

• It is keyed to driving hours, not to time since coming on duty. A driver who has been on duty ten hours but has only driven six does not owe a break yet.
• Since the 2020 hours-of-service rule, the break may be satisfied by off-duty time, sleeper berth time, or on-duty not-driving time. Supervised loading, a fuel stop or paperwork counts. It only has to be an interruption in driving.

How does the sleeper berth split work?

Section 395.1(g) lets a driver accumulate the equivalent of the required 10 consecutive hours off duty using a sleeper berth. The split option at 395.1(g)(1)(ii) permits not more than two periods of sleeper berth time, or a combination of off-duty and sleeper berth time, if:

• neither rest period is shorter than 2 consecutive hours;
• one rest period is at least 7 consecutive hours in the sleeper berth; and
• the two periods total at least 10 hours.

The pay-off is in 395.1(g)(1)(iii)(B): a qualifying rest period is excluded from the 14-hour window calculation. That is the only routine way to pause the 14-hour clock, and it is why the 7/3 and 8/2 splits are worth learning properly rather than treating as an edge case.

What exceptions exist, and when can I use them?

Exception	Citation	What it gives you
Adverse driving conditions	395.1(b)(1)	Up to 2 additional hours of driving beyond the 395.3(a) or 395.5(a) maximum to complete the run or reach a place offering safety
Emergency conditions	395.1(b)(2)	Completion of a run that reasonably could have been completed absent the emergency
Short-haul, 150 air-mile	395.1(e)(1)	No record of duty status required if the driver returns to the normal work reporting location and is released within 14 consecutive hours
Non-CDL short-haul	395.1(e)(2)	Extension to the 14th hour on 5 days, and the 16th hour on 2 days, in any period of 7 consecutive days
16-hour short-haul	395.1(o)	One extension of the 14-hour window to 16 hours, once per 6 consecutive days
Agricultural operations	395.1(k)	Exemption during planting and harvesting within a 150 air-mile radius from the source

Adverse driving conditions are narrowly defined at 395.2: “snow, ice, sleet, fog, or other adverse weather conditions or unusual road or traffic conditions that were not known, or could not reasonably be known, to a driver immediately prior to beginning the duty day.” Ordinary rush-hour congestion on a route you run daily does not qualify. Under the hours-of-service final rule that took effect September 29, 2020, the exception extends both the driving limit and the 14-hour window by up to 2 hours — meaning a maximum of 13 driving hours inside a 16-hour window. Annotate the log; an unexplained 13-hour day reads as a violation.

Short-haul was also expanded by the 2020 rule, from a 100 air-mile radius and a 12-hour release to 150 air miles (172.6 statute miles) and 14 hours. The driver must still have the required off-duty period beforehand — 10 consecutive hours for property-carrying, 8 for passenger-carrying — and the carrier must maintain and retain accurate time records showing report time, release time and total hours on duty. If a driver exceeds the radius or the 14 hours on any day, a full RODS is required for that day.

The 16-hour exception at 395.1(o) is available only to property-carrying drivers who have returned to the normal work reporting location and been released there for the previous five duty tours, who return and are released within 16 hours of coming on duty following 10 consecutive hours off, and who have not used the exception within the previous 6 consecutive days — unless they have started a new 7- or 8-day period with 34 or more consecutive hours off. It extends the window, not the 11 hours of driving.

What has to be on the log, and how long do I keep it?

Section 395.8 governs records of duty status. Under 395.8(a), a motor carrier “must install and require each of its drivers to use an ELD to record the driver’s duty status,” a requirement that took effect no later than December 18, 2017. Paper RODS remain permissible in four cases under 395.8(a):

1. The driver is required to complete a RODS on not more than 8 days within any 30-day period.
2. Driveaway-towaway operations where the vehicle driven is part of the shipment.
3. Driveaway-towaway operations transporting a motor home or recreation vehicle trailer.
4. The vehicle was manufactured before model year 2000.

Section 395.8(d) sets the required data elements: date, the start time of the 24-hour period, total miles driving, truck or tractor and trailer number, carrier name and main office address, driver certification, co-driver name, total hours in each duty status, and the shipping document number or shipper and commodity.

Retention is the part carriers get wrong:

Record	Citation	Retention
Records of duty status and supporting documents, held by the carrier	395.8(k)(1)	6 months from date of receipt
Driver’s own copies, carried in the vehicle	395.8(k)(2)	Previous 7 consecutive days, in the driver’s possession and available for inspection while on duty
Back-up copy of ELD records, on a separate device	395.22	6 months
Unidentified driving records, per ELD	395.32	Minimum 6 months from date of receipt
Blank graph-grid paper logs carried on board	395.22(h)(3)	Supply sufficient for a minimum of 8 days

What are the supporting document rules?

Section 395.11 is the rule that turns hours of service into a documents problem. Drivers must submit supporting documents to the motor carrier within 13 days of either the 24-hour period to which they pertain or the day the document comes into the driver’s possession, whichever is later.

Documents fall into five categories: bills of lading, itineraries, schedules or equivalent documents showing trip origin and destination; dispatch records, trip records or equivalents; expense receipts related to on-duty not-driving time; electronic mobile communication records from a fleet management system; and payroll records, settlement sheets or equivalent payment documentation. Each must show the driver’s name or ID, the date, the location (city, town or village) and a time convertible to local time at that location.

The volume rule is a ceiling, not a target: a carrier “need not retain more than eight supporting documents for an individual driver’s 24-hour period.” If fewer than eight exist, you keep what exists. Auditors use them to verify the log against reality — a fuel receipt 400 miles from where the log says the driver was is the classic falsification finding.

What do the ELD rules require of the carrier?

Subpart B (395.20 through 395.38) puts obligations on the carrier that go well beyond buying a device.

• Use a registered device. Section 395.22 requires the ELD to be on FMCSA’s registered ELDs list. Devices are removed from that list from time to time; a self-revoked device does not keep you compliant.
• Manage accounts properly. Accounts must carry the driver’s first and last name, a unique username, and a valid driver’s licence number and issuing jurisdiction. The licence number or Social Security number must not be used as, or as part of, the username.
• Carry the in-vehicle packet. Under 395.22(h): an instruction sheet describing the data transfer mechanisms and how to produce and transfer records to an authorised safety official, an instruction sheet on malfunction reporting and recordkeeping, and a supply of blank graph-grid paper logs sufficient for a minimum of 8 days. The ELD user’s manual is no longer required on board — FMCSA rescinded that requirement effective July 22, 2026 by removing 395.22(h)(1) (91 FR 37050). Nothing stops you carrying one; it just is not a violation to be without it. See the regulatory changes tracker.
• Handle edits correctly. Section 395.30 requires the driver to certify each 24-hour record. Drivers may edit and annotate; a motor carrier may propose edits only after the driver has submitted the records, and any edit originating from someone other than the driver must be confirmed or rejected by the driver and the record recertified. Carriers may not coerce a false certification, or alter or erase original hours-of-service information and source data.
• Resolve unassigned driving. Section 395.32 requires the carrier to either annotate the unidentified driving record explaining why the time is unassigned, or assign it to the correct driver — and to retain those records for at least 6 months.
• Fix malfunctions in 8 days. Under 395.34 the driver notes the malfunction and notifies the carrier in writing within 24 hours, and reconstructs the RODS for the current 24-hour period and the previous 7 consecutive days on paper. The carrier must correct the malfunction within 8 days of discovery or notification, whichever is first, and must notify the FMCSA Division Administrator within 5 days if it needs longer.

Note also that 395.15 through 395.19 are reserved — the automatic on-board recording device provisions were removed once the ELD grandfather period ended. There is no AOBRD compliance option left.

What auditors actually check

A safety investigation reviewing hours of service will typically:

• Pull the RODS for a sample of drivers across the compliance period and reconcile them against supporting documents under 395.11 — fuel receipts, bills of lading, tolls, ELD mobile communications and settlement sheets.
• Check the unidentified driving log on each ELD. Large volumes of unassigned miles suggest drivers running under a co-driver profile or in an unauthenticated state.
• Review the edit history. Carrier-originated edits that were never confirmed by the driver, or a pattern of on-duty time reclassified to off-duty, is the highest-risk finding in this part.
• Verify short-haul time records for anyone claimed under 395.1(e). Missing report and release times mean the exception cannot be substantiated, and every one of those days becomes a “no record of duty status” violation.
• Confirm the device is on the registered ELD list and that the in-vehicle packet exists.
• Check that 6-month retention is real, including the separate-device back-up under 395.22.

The single most common gap is the annotation. Adverse driving conditions and the 16-hour exception are perfectly legal and routinely written up, because the log shows an over-limit day with nothing explaining it.

Most common Part 395 violations

Ranked by how often they appear in roadside inspections and reviews:

1. False report of driver’s record of duty status — the most serious, and the one most often produced by unconfirmed carrier edits rather than deliberate driver fraud.
2. No record of duty status — frequently a short-haul claim under 395.1(e) that the carrier cannot substantiate with time records.
3. Driving beyond the 14-hour duty period (395.3(a)(2)).
4. Driving beyond 11 hours (395.3(a)(3)(i)).
5. Driving after 60 or 70 hours on duty (395.3(b)).
6. No 30-minute break after 8 cumulative hours of driving (395.3(a)(3)(ii)).
7. Failing to retain supporting documents or exceeding the 13-day driver submission window (395.11).
8. Operating with a malfunctioning ELD beyond 8 days without correction or an approved extension (395.34).

Items 3, 4 and 5 are out-of-service conditions. Under 395.13, an authorised officer may declare a driver out of service for driving beyond the maximum on-duty periods, or for failing to have current records of duty status for the day of examination plus the prior seven days — with a limited opportunity to correct where the driver has the current and prior day and the six preceding days completed. A driver placed out of service must remain off duty for the appropriate number of consecutive hours required by the part, deliver the out-of-service form to the carrier within 24 hours, and the carrier must return the signed certification to FMCSA within 15 days.

Where Part 395 connects to the rest of the FMCSRs

Hours of service violations feed the Hours-of-Service Compliance BASIC in CSA, so they shape your Safety Measurement System percentile and your audit-selection odds. They also interact directly with Part 392, which prohibits operating a CMV while ability is impaired by fatigue, and with the qualification records in Part 391 — an unqualified driver’s hours are a compounding, not an alternative, finding.

For the wider programme, see the FMCSA regulations guide, the DOT compliance guide and the full 49 CFR reference library. Drivers who want the rules from their own side — sleeper splits, personal conveyance, what to do at a roadside inspection — should start at our driver resource centre.

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This is a plain-English summary of 49 CFR Part 395, not legal advice. Hours-of-service rules change and carry state variations for intrastate operations; verify against the current text at Cornell’s Legal Information Institute or eCFR, and check your state’s adopted intrastate version, before relying on any limit here. Fleetive does not replace an ELD; it reads the compliance record alongside your driver and equipment files.